As is known, body-on-frame vehicles include a rigid chassis/frame supporting the vehicle drivetrain and a separate body mounted to that frame. While tending to be heavier than unibody vehicle constructions, body-on-frame vehicle construction provides certain advantages, including comparative simplicity of design, construction, and modification, high frame torsional strength, reduced exterior noise due to isolation of the body from the frame such as with rubber pads, and ease of repair of damage. For this reason, body-on-frame is often the construction method of choice for certain vehicle types including pickup trucks, truck-based sport-utility vehicles, off-road vehicles, certain vehicles subjected to heavy towing stress, and others.
Body-on-frame vehicles which specify advanced cooling requirements, which are common in certain vehicle types such as pickup trucks, rely on multiple sealing parts in the vehicle front end and under the vehicle to draw cooling air into the vehicle cooling pack (radiator(s), condenser, oil cooler, transmission cooler, power steering cooler, etc.). However, body-on-frame vehicles present a unique design challenge in that certain sealing components must be installed on the vehicle chassis/frame, but others must be installed on portions of the vehicle body. Still other sealing components are required to bridge the vehicle chassis/frame and vehicle body. Because in a body-on-frame vehicle there is typically relative movement between the body and the frame, sealing components bridging the body and frame must compensate for that relative movement.
Typically, this compensation for relative movement between the body and frame is accomplished by designing “slack” in the sealing components, i.e. by providing a seal that at least partially regulates airflow despite relative movement between the vehicle body and frame. While substantially effective, such slack decreases cooling efficiency. This can be a significant issue in light of modern requirements for vehicle efficiency, safety, and other standards requiring high-performance sealing systems. Accordingly, a need in the art exists for sealing systems for body-on-frame vehicles which both accommodate the relative movement between the vehicle body and frame, but which also provide highly efficient airflow seals to meet modern cooling standards.